A Diamond in the Rough
by MsLoverOfAllThings
Summary: A new girl goes and stays at the Palm Woods. Her only chance at freedom from her terrible past is a guy from a band she never hear of. "Maybe my life isn't that bad." She thought. Horrible summary . . .sorry. James/OC
1. Chapter 1

"James!" Carlos yelled at a dazed James.

"James!" Kendall called next, but still no James.

"What's wrong with that boy?" Kelly asked standing in front of Kendall, Carlos, and Logan.

"Maybe we should find out!" Carlos exclaimed and whipped out his lucky helmet. "They only way to get him to talk, is if we snap him out of it!" He was so proud of himself.

"Oh James!" Carlos charged at the dazed teenager in a sing-song voice.

"No! Carlos don't!" Kendall and Logan yelled.

"Ah!" James fell to the ground.

"James, I have to ask you something." Carlos panted and stood up.

"Well did you have to tackle me?" James fumed still on the ground.

"Well . . . yes and no. You weren't responding, so . . . I tackled you." Carlos made it seem like the obvious answer.

"Well now it all makes sense now!" James spat sarcastically.

"Sorry." Carlos murmured. "So, what were you staring at?"

"I wasn't staring." James muttered and continued his intense stare on the person that held his attention.

"So what are you staring at?"

Rolling his eyes, James finally answered. "This new girl."

"New girl!" Kendall and Logan joined the other band members and gawked at what they saw.

"She's hot." Kendall simply put. "Well . . . uh – next to Jo – she uh, I have to go." With that, Kendall went to go find his girlfriend and free himself of the temptation.

"She looks smart." Logan said.

"She's gorgeous." Carlos's mouth watered.

"Hey guys get over here. We still have to finish the song." Kelly beckoned at them.

"Coming." Logan and Carlos both said.

"She looks sad." James whispered.

Giving the girl one last look, James joined his friends in the studio.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the ridiculously late post. I've been killa busy . . . so for anyone who actually read this haha here is chapter 2!**

**Please leave comments, good or bad makes me no difference **

"What are you doing?" Kendall joined James along the poolside in his swimming trunks.

James was silent and did not even notice Kendall's presence. He was too focused on the girl who lay out on the cushioned bench that circled the fire pit.

"Earth to James," waving his hand in front of his friend's face, "what are you doing?" Kendall asked once again.

"I don't know if I should talk to the new girl or not." He was frustrated and did could not focus enough to listen if Kendall responded or not.

"Since when did you question talking to a hot girl?" Kendall teased and kicked off his sandals.

"What?"

"What?"

"I thought you said something." James turned his attention to Kendall.

"I _did_ say something."

"Well what did you say?" Clueless.

"I said go talk to her." Annoyed and looking for Jo, Kendall tipped the chair James was sitting in over and pushed him toward the new girl.

She did not look up at the person whose feet were in her line of sight. She was listening to her iTouch and she was humming to the music.

_She doesn't even notice me._ He was slightly hurt.

He sighed and started walking away.

"Wait." Someone called after him. He did not stop; he was too focused on finding something that will make him feel better. "Hey! Wait up." The same voice called again and this time it sounded right in his ear.

He quickly turned around to find himself toe-to-toe with the golden beauty from the poolside.

"I'm Anna." She held out her hand with a brilliant smile that lit up her face. He could not help but smile back.

"I'm James. Nice to meet you." He was all of a sudden too shy to make eye contact with her. Looking down, he caught a glimpse of her golden brown legs. _They never end._

"So . . . what did you want?" She mumbled.

"What?" Her smooth voice made him look at her, really look at her. She was beautiful. Her brown eyes gleamed in the sunlight making for a smoldering gaze. Her mocha skin was flawless and her hair was shoulder length, slightly brushing her shoulders. Her full luscious lips were slightly parted. She noticed his gaze lingering on her lips. She could not stop the blush that raced up her neck. Though her skin was a far from fair, her skin had the uncanny ability to show the heat rise throughout her body. His emerald eyes finally looked at her big brow ones and he felt a little embarrassed.

_Did I really just creepily check out this girl while she was standing right in front of me? _

Clearing her throat she began, "You were trying to approach me earlier and I was wondering what you wanted."

"I – uh, my – um, my friend pushed me." He finally blurted out. He down casted his eyes and embarrassment flushed his cheeks.

"So you were forced to talk to me?" She nodded and walked away.

_How could stupid California be any different than Ohio? No one likes me already. _

"Wait," he was by her side and looking at her with pleading puppy dog eyes with a slight pout on his lips. "I didn't mean it that way." He pinched the bridge of his nose and licked his lips. "What I meant was that I was too nervous to go talk to you, and since my friend is probably the most annoying person on Earth, he uh, pushed me into talking before I was ready." He frowned when he noticed her grin. "What?"

"So you were nervous to talk to me." She stifled a giggle. "That's a first. Normally people don't even give me a second glance." She laughed and started back to her place by the fire pit and sat down.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't they give you a second glance? You're gorgeous!" She stared at him with wide eyes. "I m-mean," _I can't believe I'm stuttering_, "I mean that you are a-attractive." He finished in hushed tones.

She did not know what to say. No one had ever called her attractive before let alone gorgeous. _Maybe he really doesn't see it._

"Nevermind," Anna brushed it off, "it's not important." She shrugged and stared at him.

"Well . . . I gotta go. Bye." He turned to leave but was stopped by a question he was hoping to hear since he first saw her.

"Wait," she called sadly, "will I see you around?"

"He turned back to her and gave a smile that made her heart skip a beat. "Yeah, of course."

She nodded and smiled back at him. "Okay. See ya." She waved shyly and started listening to her iTouch again. He walked away with a bounce in his step and it was all because of the new girl.


	3. Chapter 3

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" James asked suddenly. All the guys turned to him with mouths hanging on the floor. "What?" He quickly got annoyed.

"Yeah." Kendall spoke up first. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Anna." Her name sent shivers down his spine. He had never seen anyone so beautiful in his entire life.

"The new girl?" Carlos shouted. "How in the word did you talk to her?" He could not believe James got to her first. "This sucks." He pouted and threw himself on the couch.

"_I'm_ the one who gave him the shove in the right direction." Kendall spoke proudly.

"You gonna ask her out?" Logan asked.

"I want to, but we just met and I don't want to freak her out or anything." He shrugged nervously and started out the door.

"Where are you going?" Carlos asked from his place on the couch.

"The pool. I need some fresh air." James seemed in a daze as he walked out the door without shutting it.

"Weird." Kendall muttered.

"Agreed." Logan said.


	4. Chapter 4

**I know I haven't updated in what feels like years! Hear is chapter 4 woohoo!**

**For those of you read this, it kind of gives a peek at Anna's story so I hope you enjoy!**

**Review and God Bless**

James floated on his back in the pool staring at the sky above. When did he fall so hard for a girl? He never felt this way before. _Ever_! He is pretty sure it is not some hormonal thing, but he cannot help but wonder what about this girl lures him in the way she does.

The woman in question pulled him out of his thoughts. She walked by the pool wrapped in a red sweater.

He climbed out of the water with his shorts hanging dangerously low and his body glistening with water.

"Hey!" He called to her and tapped her shoulder. "How are you?"

"Uh, g-good." She stuttered and flushed underneath her russet skin.

"I was just wondering if-" He stopped and stared at her sweater, "Why are you in a sweater? It's like 100 degrees out here." He chuckled.

"I just-" she nibbled on her lip trying to find a way out, "I'm anemic and I get cold really easily." She nodded trying to sound convincing.

"Oh." He looked away embarrassed. "Sorry." He mumbled and heard her say 'it's okay'. "Well I was wondering if you wanted to hang out er something." Her eyes bulged and her mouth was agape. "I mean… only if you want! No pressure or anything!" He practically shouted at her due to his nervousness and his face turned beet red.

She pulled at the sleeves of her sweater self-consciously. "Uh-Uh sure. I would like that." A smile lit up her face and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Great! So when is good for you?" He asked trying to play it cool but on the inside he was giggling like a school boy.

"What about seven?"

"Sounds good to me!"

"Sweet. I guess I'll see you then." She smiled as she was turning to leave.

His face dropped just a little but he kept his smile plastered up there.

"Sorry I'm not trying to just leave or anything," She laughed nervously, "I just have to meet up with someone and I'm already late."

"Oh, well sorry for holding up." He licked his lips and decided it was his time to leave.

"Oh you didn't help me be late." She dismissed with a wave. "I was already late from the get-go." At that he grinned and made note of a scar peeking out through the sleeve of her sweater with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"Well, I hope whoever you're meeting doesn't get to mad at you." He joked.

"Let's hope she doesn't."

They stared at each other with an invisible force pulling them closer to one another.

Someone cleared their throat and both of them jumped apart noticing they were toe-to-toe.

"We need you in the studio James." Kelly said with her iPad in her hand clearly not caring about the moment she just trampled on.

"I'll see you later James." Anna said with a glimmer of promise in her eyes.

"Bye Anna!" He called out when he finally found his voice.

Kelly finally looked up long enough to get a good look of the girl's face before she walked away. "She cute." She said absentmindedly. "Get dried off and get to the studio. Gustavo has been acting like a drama queen today and I don't want to make it worse."

With that, she walked away leaving James jumping for joy and shouting that he had a date, completely oblivious to Kelly's last remark.


End file.
